Tag: India

  • India has new health warnings

    warning photo
    Photo by buggolo

    Since April 1, Indian tobacco manufacturers have been required to include a new set of graphic health warnings on their packaging, according to a story by India TV.

    Under new Health Ministry rules, manufacturers are required to display graphic pictures of throat cancer on cigarette and bidi packs and pictures of mouth cancer on chewing tobacco packs.

    India TV reported that, according to the Health Ministry’s website, the government notified new health warnings on October 15, 2014, and issued a notification dated September 24, 2015, for the mandatory display of new health warnings covering 85 percent of the principal display areas on all tobacco products from April 1, 2016.

    ‘As per rules, during the rotation period of 24 months, two images of specified health warnings as notified in the schedule, shall be displayed on all tobacco product packages and each of the images shall appear consecutively on the package with an interregnum period of 12 months,’ the notice said.

    ‘Further as per notification dated March 24, 2017, all tobacco products manufactured on or after April 1, 2017, shall display the second image of specified health warning.’

    In fact, the introduction of the 85 percent health warnings was a chaotic affair that resulted in manufacturers having to shut down their operations because of uncertainty surrounding the timing of the introduction of the warnings.

  • Andhra prices increased

    India photoFlue-cured tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, were paid an average price of Rs158 (US$2.43) per kg in the early part of the current selling season, up almost 48 percent on what they received last year, Rs107 per kg, according to a story in Hans India, relayed by the TMA.

    But a question mark must hang over these figures if the 2016 average price quoted refers also to the early part of that season.

    At the beginning of April last year, Ch. R. S Sarma reported for the Business Line that, by the end of March, after 25 days of sales, 5.85 million kg of flue-cured had been sold for an average price of Rs138.72 per kg, whereas, during the same period of 2015, 3.85 million kg had been sold for an average price of Rs118.09 per kg.

    Not that the 2016 season went well. Sarma reported on a ‘crisis’ on the flue-cured tobacco market as auctions were disrupted on six floors by growers angry at the low prices being offered.

    In part, the disruptions were caused by external forces as local manufacturers found themselves compelled to shut down their operations because of uncertainty over the government’s introduction of graphic health warnings on tobacco products.

    Industry observers attributed the increase in prices in the current marketing season, which started on March 15, to rising demand for leaf tobacco in the face of a shrinking acreage.

    Tobacco acreage was said to have declined in the current season as many tobacco farmers, who suffered heavy losses during last season, switched to chili cultivation.

  • New board director

    New board director

    T. Venkatesh has assumed charge as executive director of the Tobacco Board of India.

    Previously, Venkatesh worked as chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh.

    He will be supported in his duties by Secretary C.S.S. Patnaik, Manager B.N. Mitra, and Manager (auctions) K. Ravi Kumar.

    The appointment has come at a time of uncertainty over changes in the board’s administrative structure.

  • Looking to ‘scrape through’

    India photo
    Photo by Nick Kenrick..

    Tobacco growers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh were looking for higher prices as this year’s marketing season got under way this week, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

    The growers told the Tobacco Board that the average price should not go below Rs135 per kg if they were to ‘scrape through this year after two successive years of heavy losses’.

    The Board is being urged to ensure that growers receive Rs160-170 per kg for bright-grade leaf and at least Rs120 per kg for low grades.

    The Farmers’ Association said that the Board should take into consideration the challenging conditions under which the crop was raised – conditions that included a prolonged dry spell.

    Andhra’s crop is expected to total about 105 million kg this year, well short of the 130 million kg that were authorised.

    According to the Indian Tobacco Association, the total crop is expected to comprise 40 percent bright grades, 25 percent medium grades, with low grades making up the remainder.

  • Commodity boards to merge

    India photo

    The Indian Commerce Ministry is planning to merge five commodity boards under its control, which include the Tobacco Board, according to a Press Trust of India story relayed by the TMA.

    The board describes its ‘mission’ as striving for the overall development of tobacco growers and the Indian tobacco industry, and its ‘vision’ as ensuring ‘the smooth functioning of a vibrant farming system, fair and remunerative prices to tobacco growers and export promotion’.

    But its responsibilities seem to start and end with Virginia flue-cured tobacco.

    The other boards that are due to be merged are those with responsibility for the development of tea, coffee, rubber and spices.

    A senior ministry official was quoted as saying that the ministry planned to set up an umbrella organization in an effort to boost agricultural exports and provide better services.

    Agri-products account for more than 10 percent of India’s total exports.

    But while tobacco, tea, coffee, rubber and spices are seen as having the potential to play an important role in the country’s economic growth, demand and price levels have affected shipments of some of these commodities recently.

    The ministry has asked exporters to explore new markets in a bid to boost agricultural commodity exports.

    It has asked, too, that consideration be given to offering for export value-added products.

  • Mizoram factories closed

    Mizoram photo
    Photo by global.quiz

    The Aizawl district authority in the Indian state of Mizoram has ordered the closure of at least five factories producing a local form of tobacco product called tuibur, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter, Tobacco News.

    Tuibur is produced by passing smoke, generated by burning tobacco, through water until the liquid turns the color of cognac and has a pungent smell.

    This concoction is ‘consumed’ by taking about 5-10 ml of it into the mouth, holding it there for some time, and then spitting it out.

    According to official data, 62 percent of women in Mizoram consume tobacco products.

    Sixteen percent smoke while the rest use the smokeless tobacco products, khaini or tuibur.

    The factories that have been closed are said to be situated along the Lungli stream near the Salem and Republic neighborhoods of the eastern part of Aizawl, the state capital.

    They have come under scrutiny following the pollution of water bodies, which is said to be threatening aquatic life.

  • Price down in Karnataka

    Price down in Karnataka

    Tobacco growers in the Indian state of Karnataka had sold 75.06 million kg of flue-cured 115 days into the 2016-17 auction season, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter, Tobacco News.

    The Karnataka flue-cured crop is estimated at 95 million kg this season.

    Of the total sales so far, 30.08 million kg were said to have been of medium grade, 25.24 million kg of low grade. and 19.74 million kg of bright grade.

    The story said that the average price paid for the tobacco offered during the first 115 days of sales was Rs132.86 per kg, which was down by about 1.6 percent from that of the 2015-16 season [presumably also the first 115 days], Rs135.00 per kg.

  • Bidi packs undergo “face-lift” to attract smokers

    A number of bidi makers in India have introduced their products in sleek new packaging with filters, exotic flavors and organic ingredients in an effort to attract urban smokers searching for a cheaper alternative in light of a recent rise in cigarette prices, according to The Economic Times. The traditional hand-rolled “cigarettes” wrapped in tendu leaves are also being advertised via new social media campaigns and recently launched websites.

    Anwar Ali, owner of Bigarette Co.—which manufactures bidi brands Bigarette, Black Swan, Sumo, 8 AM and Enigma—said bidi is quickly becoming a product of choice for urban consumers looking for less expensive products after the government raised the excise tax by 25 percent for cigarettes of length 65 mm or under and by 15 percent for cigarettes longer than 65 mm.

    According to brand strategy expert Harish Bijoor, bidi makers want to make their category “aspirational by Anglicising the brand names and repositioning the bidi as the Indian version of hand-rolled cigar,” and added that “[a] vernacular brand name is always downmarket for Indian consumers and hence the need to launch newer brand names.”

  • Profits up at ITC

    ITC of India reported a net profit of INR19.28 billion ($350.3 million) in the quarter ending March 31, up 19.45 percent from the comparable quarter last year.

    The company’s non-tobacco FMCG business contributed a net profit of INR118.7 million during the quarter, compared with a net loss of INR166.8 million in the 2012 quarter.

    ITC’s profit for the fiscal year 2013 was INR74.18 billion, up 20.38 percent from INR61.61 billion in 2012, as its full-year net sales increased by 19.39 percent to INR 296.06 billion.

    ITC officials said that while the company’s foods business has been profitable for the past few quarters, its nontobacco segment as a whole made a profit for the first time.

    Morgan Stanley analysts expect ITC’s earnings growth to continue, pointing to the company’s recent success in the 64 mm segment.

  • Demand drives crop size increase

    The Tobacco Board of India has increased Karnataka’s authorized 2013–14 crop size by about four percent on that of 2012–13, according to a report in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

    The crop size has been set at 102 million kg, up from 98 million kg in 2012–13 and 100 million kg in each of the previous two years.

    The increase is said to have been driven by international demand for the crop.

    Traders had sought a crop of 112 million kg and growers one of 105 million kg at a recent board meeting, the report said.